ANALYZING HOW DIGITAL MARKETING AFFECTS TOURISTS’ DECISION-MAKING AND SPENDING BEHAVIOR IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

Abstract

The present research aimed to assess the impact of digital marketing trends on the decision-making process and spending behavior of tourists in Pakistan. The tourism sector in District Faisalabad is currently experiencing exponential growth, aided by increasing internet penetration and the popularity of social media networks. The article discusses the phenomenon of digital marketing and uses quantitative cross-sectional data collected from 160 respondents to explore the relationship between the examined aspect and tourist behavior. PLS-SEM and binary logistic regression analysis were conducted to evaluate the impact of digital marketing on the tourism sector and identify mediation and moderation effects. The results suggest that the effect of digital marketing on both decision-making and spending behavior of tourists is positive and significant. Moreover, digital marketing tends to increase the likelihood of tourist decision-making reliance by 5.35 times and the probability of high spending by six times. The results also indicate that satisfaction and interaction mediate the relationship between digital marketing and the dependent variables, explaining 36.1% and 24.8% of the observed effect, respectively. At the same time, gender and location were found to moderate the impact of digital marketing trends on tourist spending behavior, reducing the likelihood of high spending for both female tourists and residents in rural areas. The study also found education and income to be two critical factors enabling effective digital marketing, while cultural and economic barriers reduced its effectiveness for the studied population. The research confirmed the applicability of several theoretical models, including Technology Acceptance Model, Theory of Planned Behavior, Expectation Confirmation Theory, and Self- Determination Theory, to the tourism sector in Pakistan. The present findings contribute to understanding the role of digital marketing in tourism and offer policymakers and marketers guidelines on implementing equal opportunities marketing in the sector.